On Feb. 16, the Westfield wrestling team ended their season after a 58-17 loss to Middletown South in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 Team Tournament. The Blue Devils ended the season with a 14-15 record, in comparison to last season’s 18-9 record; however, the team faced a series of challenges, including injuries to key wrestlers, including Stevens Institute of Technology commit Jake Zemsky.
Along with Zemsky, the team was led by a strong group of quad-captains: Seniors Daniel Berardi, Luke Sluberski and Josh Semler, who paved the way for a successful season for each wrestler.
The season started on Dec. 17 with a 56-24 win against Linden, but bounced back and forth with victories over teams including Teaneck, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Hillsborough to losses against other strong opponents throughout the season.
Initially, the team faced many challenges but rebounded towards the end of the season. Head coach Glen Kurz said, “It seemed like we had two seasons. In the beginning, we struggled with some injuries and did not have much consistency. As the season went on, we improved quite a bit.” Berardi agreed, saying, “I’m most proud of how the team finished. We started off really slow, but just kept working and we got a lot better by the end of the season.”
Due to the injuries, a number of wrestlers had to step up to fill the roles of the missing boys and put up scores. “In addition to losing Russo and Semler for a few weeks, we lost Zemsky for the whole year. Any time you lose a returning state place-winner, it’s going to hurt you on the scoreboard, but we also lost out on Jake’s leadership,” Kurz said.
Despite these injuries, wrestlers stepped up. Sluberski said one of his teammates who stood out to him was junior Anthony Cabrera. “He cut a lot of weight and wrestled varsity for the first time for a full year and improved a lot,” Sluberski said.
These wrestlers stepping up to fill the shoes of those who were injured allowed the team to turn their season around from the initial rocky start.
One of the key turning points for the team was the match against Scotch Plains on Jan. 23. The Blue Devils came out on top, with a score of 49-27. Kurz credited the team’s success to the efforts of everyone, despite many wrestlers not being 100 percent healthy. “We have not lost to Scotch Plains in years, and this team did not want to be the one to lose to them. They wrestled a great match and dominated. From there, we picked up momentum and had a strong finish,” Kurz said.
The team finished the season with eight wins in ten matches, and although they ultimately lost in the state tournament, there were some individual highlights, as both Berardi and sophomore Laia Colet-Rams qualified for the state tournament.
Off the mat, the team culture this year was unique. Sluberski said, “This year’s team was extremely close and spent a lot of time hanging out together in school and outside of school.” Kurz agreed, “This is a hard sport and we always lose some kids. This year, we kept the team together, which says something about the culture the kids have created.”
As they look ahead to next season, the wrestlers aim to continue improving and build the program. Kurz said, “What I want for them is to continue to outwork the competition and to live our lives the right way on and off the mat. That’s our philosophy. If we do those two things, the wrestling will take care of itself.”
